The Secret of The Elemental Rocks
by Windsbane
Summary: A human child named Zephyr fell form the sky and resides in Garoh the town of werewolves. He is picked on, but he can read peoples minds and control wind. When he goes to Airs Rock seeking answers he unseals part of Alchemy's lost power.
1. Ch 1 Child of The Winds

_**The Secret of The Elemental Rocks**_

Windsbane- Disclaimer: I don't own Camelot, Nintendo or any other company that helped make the Golden Sun games. I do own the characters I make up however such as Zephyr.

Zephyr- Warning the last few times people that tried to sue Windsbane had weird things happen to them. They got shocked by 10 000 volts of electricity, a tornado appeared and demolished their house, and their gambling IOUs, credit card information, secret crushes and other dark secrets found their way into the news world ect. so my advice is do not try anything.

A/N I had originally posted this story on the forums of the previously existing site Age of The Adepts. (I used the name Zephyr on those forums just like my character's name in the story).

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**Prologue: The Midnight Comet**

_It was the night of the full moon near the town of Garoh, on the continent of Osenia. The residents of this town are all were-wolves. Many consider their race cursed because they take this form. It was a very clear and starry night for the hunt. Several adult were-wolves were out to find food for the pack. They had just caught some deer and fish and were about to head back to Garoh, when suddenly they saw a brilliant flash of purple light in the night sky, brighter than the sun. A glowing comet crashed just north of the town so they went to investigate. _

_When they arrived at the spot where the comet crashed, all of them were astonished at what they saw. There was a 10-ft deep crater in the ground and was covered in a fog. There appeared to be nothing else there so they turned to leave…. But then they heard crying. The leader of the party, Maha used the ability reveal to see if anything was hidden. (This power was very rare among the were-wolves and only a chosen few could learn it; however Maha had lost his human form when he did learn this power.) He was shocked to see a human baby boy there at bottom if the crate engulfed in a cloud._

_He jumped from the top all the way down the crater and scooped up the child in his paw. He told the rest of the members of his party that he'd be taking the child back to their town because he could sense something very unusual about him for a normal human. They then set off to go back home and little did they know that this child would change the fate of the world._

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**Ch 1: Child of The Winds**

13 years later>

"Hey look it's the 'normal human' everybody," taunted Jeremy.

"Jeremy do everyone including yourself a favor and SHUT-UP," I yelled back.

"What are you going to do? Bite us with your tiny fangs… I mean teeth, or scratch us with your non-existent claws Zephyr," said Janet in a high pitched voice.

"HAHAHAHAHA; look it's so scary, it's too terrifying to even be a lycanthrope", said Terry.

"Oh no look the human has come to kill us all we must stop him", mused Daniel. "We must kill it."

At that they all jumped on top of me. I jumped out of the way just at the right time and they fell on top of each other. Jeremy was the first up and started to get mad. He tried to punch me, but I blocked and gave him a hard kick in the chest. Jeremy came at me again and this time I grabbed his arm and threw him past me into a mud puddle. Then he threw mud in my eyes and I couldn't see when he charged me. Instead he ended up tripping over my foot when I was trying to get the mud off my face.

He was now raging and yelled on anger "YOU ASS! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS ZEPHYR!" He started to glow yellow and with a flash changed into his wolf form.

This is when the real danger starts. I can beat any of these idiots easily but not when they are wolves. (Were-wolves can transform at will except for the time when the full moon is out then they are trapped in that form if they see the moon directly. When this happens they can't change back until the next morning when the sun comes up.) Jeremy started to run at me at full speed fangs bared with an insane look in his eyes. I started to run, but his friends (now transformed) blocked me and the cliffs were too high to jump and too steep to climb. I was trapped! As soon as they all lunged at me I closed my eyes in fear, but instead they never got to me.

The next thing I knew I felt an odd power surging through my body. It was as if I was part of the wind. The power started to become increasingly stronger and a large whirlwind started to blow between me and Jeremy's gang and several lightning bolts started to fall form the sky even though it was a sunny day. The gang swirled around in circles while getting electrical shocks.

When it stopped I asked, "Are you guys okay?" They looked at me terrified and started to run off in fear as fast as they could go.

I was thinking to myself what happened. Ever since I was about 6 I have been able to control the winds direction and whip up small gusts, but nothing quite as strong as right then. As they left I heard them thinking "How on Weyard did that stupid kid do that". I kept hearing what people were thinking for about 4 years now.

'I need answers,' I thought. As I walked along the path to my secret place, I tripped over a chest. 'What could be in here?' I asked in my mind. as I examined it. It was a beautiful small sword. It had the moon symbol carved on it and was made of pure silver. I recognized it to be the Hypnos sword rumored to be a treasure of Garoh that was supposedly lost. I held up my new blade and it glowed in the sun's rays.

I reached my little hideaway, which was an open valley on the mountain side. It was very peaceful with a hot spring and berries growing all over. It also held a stash of treasure. I had found several items like light armor and rare crafting materials over the years. This was the best spot to clear my head as I sheathed my new sword. I looked into the spring and saw my reflection. I was 13 years old with brown-blond hair and hazel eyes. I was very smart and quite fast. It seemed so ironic that a normal human would be thought of as abnormal; then again a human in a village of were-wolves was unheard of. I was told that some of the hunters had found me in the middle of a forest 13 years ago when I was still a young baby. For as long as I could remember I had no family and was picked on by most of the other kids (especially Jeremy and his gang). The leader of Garoh, Maha, had taken care of me when I was little until I could live on my own and was one of the few people in Garoh that showed care for me even though I didn't see him all the time. Most of the adults didn't pay too much attention to me and just passed bye without doing anything.

"Sigh. Why do I live like this" I said to myself as I started to head back home.

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A/N Character Descriptions (Other than the regular GS crew): 

Zephyr

Age: 13

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Appearance: height 4 ft 10, a mix of light brown and blonde hair, hazel eyes,

Current regular clothing: sky blue shirt with a green vest over top and thick, durable green pants.

Travel/Fighting clothing: sky blue thick shirt, forest green vest with violet trim on the edges, gold arm bracelets and leg anklets (made of metal and able to stop some attacks), sky blue pants, a sheath at his waist for his Hypnos sword with an eclipsed moon in gold and the rest is a silver colour, leather gloves for protection, and brown combat boots (every clothing piece is obviously more durable than usual clothing)

Other info: Zephyr is my main character so far (there will be others in the future). He fell from the sky when he was a child and is a wind adept who doesn't understand his powers yet. He is a smart and person that learns fast and likes to gain knowledge. Zephyr is teased by other kids because he is a normal human in a village of were-wolves. He is a quick runner, enjoys card games, mysteries. He is slightly reserved from other people due to his treatment during childhood and wants to learn more about the world after he has a few interesting experiences.

Jeremy

Age: 13

Gender: male

Race: Were-wolf

Appearance: Dark brown hair, black eyes, casual grey shirt and green pants, average height around 4 ft 11 (wolf form has dark brown fur)

Other info: I made this guy act as a jerk for the sake of having a tragic past for my main character. He likes picking on Zephyr, but is innocent towards others. Jeremy enjoys playing simple games and joking around using whatever source of amusement there is. He leads his own little gang with Daniel, Terry and Janet.

Daniel

Age: 13

Gender: Male

Race: Were-wolf

Appearance: 4ft 10 high (An inch shorter than Jeremy), blue eyes, black hair, red shirt blue pants (wolf form has jet black fur).

Other info: The other boy in the gang. Daniel follows his friends and hangs out with them a lot. He is more serious than Jeremy and a little more cautious. He enjoys reading and learning new stuff occasionally.

Terry

Age: 13

Gender: Female

Race: Werewolf

Appearance: 4 ft 9 high, short light brown hair, green eyes, green shirt along with durable brown pants (wolf form has light brown fur)

Other info: She is a bit of a tomboy and likes to race and be athletic. Terry has a decent amount of common sense, but has some prejudices against humans due to her uncle being hunted by some (he survived, but was injured).

Janet

Age: 13

Gender: Female

Race: Were-wolf

Appearance: 4 ft 13, red hair, purple skirt and blood red shirt, (wolf form has mahogany fur with a reddish hue)

Other info: Janet is tall for her age, violent and somewhat vain. She dislikes people putting her down in any way and people that seem abnormal to her. Janet is very prideful and likes to look her best, but doesn't let it get in the way of her life. She also has a secret crush on Jeremy because she admires his sense of humour.

Maha

Age: Who knows.

Race: Were-wolf

Appearance: He is always stuck in wolf form, but learned to adapt to it and act almost like a normal person in it. He has grey fur in different shades, looks aged and has silver eyes depicting wisdom.

Other info: You know this guy from the game and he is the leader of Garoh. He once traveled to the top of Airs Rock and obtained the power there (reveal), but somehow lost his human form in the process. In my story he found Zephyr as a baby in that forest and tried to take care of him until he could live on his own.

I hope that anyone reading my story likes the background info I used. If I feel like it or get a request I may use some of this info to make side stories or events in my main plotline. I may not use any of this info at all for my other OCs besides Zephyr, but I still wanted to add some details on these characters.

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Zephyr- You had to make my life a dramatic one didn't you. 

Windsbane- Well yea I can't have you being a normal guy that would be boring.

Zephyr- Thanks a lot for making me a weirdo in a village of were-wolves.

Windsbane- I know how I'll make it up to you.

Zephyr- How's that?

Windsbane- Like this. -Snaps fingers and Jeremy and his gang appear tied over a boiling pot of oil in a castle dungeon-

Zephyr- Thanks I feel better already. (laughing like a maniac)

Jeremy- Hey get us down now Zephyr.

Zephyr- Nah I'm enjoying this. (he and I both sit on a couch with popcorn and coke to watch)

- Mysterious figure appears in a cloak and starts turning a crank to lower the gang in to the pot-

Jeremy, Daniel, Terry and Janet- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW AND WE BEG YOU PERSAUDE WINDSBANE TO LET US GO.


	2. Ch 2 The Three Adepts And the Full Moon

Windsbane- Thanks to my one reviewer so far unicornmaddy.

Jeremy- Okay can you please let us go now Windsbane. Being over a boiling pot of oil isn't fun.

Windsbane- Okay I'll let you guys down.

-snaps fingers and the pot disappears and the gang falls on top of each other in a large human er were-wolf pile knocking each other unconscious-

Zephyr- Are you going to torture them through the whole fic?

Windsbane- Of course not... (!MASSIVE SARCASM!)

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**Ch 2: The Three Adepts and The Full Moon**

I was heading back to my house and decided to stop by the local archive house on the way. It was a dusty old cave and few people ever came there. I looked along the shelves and noticed a particular book entitled The Myth of Airs Rock. 

I opened the book and read:

_Airs rock is a sacred place among the people of Garoh. This rock holds a great power over the element of wind. It is said that there are other sacred rocks for the other three elements of fire, wind and water. Only a few have ever passed the trials and journeyed to its inner sanctum. There a great power is contained rumored to be only usable by those that can wield the power of whirlwind. The last one that was able to complete this task was Maha, the leader of the Garoh's pack. No other person has accomplished this feat for over 30 years. _

"That must be it. The answers must be there at Airs Rock." I said out loud. At that point I had decided to go to Airs Rock and find what I wanted to know for myself.

> > > > > >

About a week later it was the full moon when the regular lunar festival was held. All the inhabitants of Garoh would transform into their wolf form to hunt, play games, tell stories ect. As a regular human I never got to do this and was very annoyed by the other kids talking about it the next day. Fortunately for me some travelers had come during the night so everyone in town had to keep their cloaks on except me.

More outsiders had come later that night. There was a boy about 18 with black hair in a ponytail with green armor, a girl age 17 with brown hair laid back and a leather vest over a red and purple dress, another girl only about 14 with blonde hair wearing a purple and white robe and an old man dressed in a brown cloak. As they were coming as I watched from the cliff I was debating to watch them or to tell the townsfolk, when….

"Garooohhhh………………." I looked and saw Jeremy in his wolf form heading straight at them. The blonde girl screamed and Jeremy ran off. They got into a conversation for a few minutes about lycanthropes, and went into the town. I followed them to the rock where Maha was supposed to hide during the times outsiders came on the full moon since he lost his human form.

Suddenly there was a flash and Maha appeared surprised to see outsiders there. One of the travelers said, "look he's using pysnergy". (I guessed that must be what they called that power) Maha then disappeared back into the rock, but the blonde girl started to glow a purple colour and used the same power that Maha had just used. The entrance opened and they pursued him.

> > > > >

The next morning everyone was talking about the adepts in town. Jeremy had gone blabbing to everyone about his "amazing" discovery along with Maha telling everybody about their strange powers that they used to control the elements. I realized that that must be what I was, an adept.

I was in deep thought about what I had discovered and surprised at how well the townsfolk took to them since they held that power. Without looking I turned around a corner and accidentally bumped into someone. We both fell over.

"Owww… that hurt."

"I'm sorry," I said in response. I noticed that that it was that same blonde girl that I had seen with the travelers last night.

"That's okay. Hi, I'm Jenna," said the older girl. "That's Felix my older brother, this is Sheba and he's Kraden," she introduced.

"Hi I'm Zephyr, unlike most people here I'm just a human not a were-wolf," I said. I read their minds and heard that they were on some quest to ignite lighthouses or something like that, which seemed very odd to me.

"What, get out of my head Sheba," Felix said.

"It's not me," replied Sheba.

They all looked at me and I said, "Umm… sorry."

They were all shocked and said in unison, "YOU'RE AN ADEPT?"

"Yea, I just learned it now that you came though. I didn't know before what I was."

So we talked for a while, I told them about my childhood and they told me where they came from, then they left. They told me that power that Maha had used was obtained at Airs Rock. That had made me just want to go even more.

"Goodbye. I hope that I'll see you again someday," I said

"Yea maybe when our quest is finished we'll come back and be able to enjoy things more leisurely," Felix remarked.

"Take care Zephyr. I was happy to meet another wind adept personally for the first time," said Sheba.

"Okay I will, bye now," I responded

I was happy for the first time in ages because I knew that there were people like me with the same abilities.

'Wait if I really can use psynergy maybe I could get the same power that they and Maha have from Airs rock.'

No one in town knew that I had started to plan a little trip for the next month.

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Terry- Ugh. My head.

Janet- Windsbane sure has a twisted sense of humour huh.

Daniel -comes running in wolf form panting- Guys run away as fast as you can!

Jeremy- Why?

Mob- Werewolves! Get the cursed half breeds.

Terry, Janet, Jeremy and Daniel- AHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Meanwhile Windsbane and Zephyr are at the Oscars to accept an award for best horror/comedy movie.


	3. Ch 3 The Mountain of Winds

Windsbane-I am humbly accepting this award for the movie I recently made with the help of some of my...

-Jeremy, Daniel, Terry and Janet rush inside the building with so much anger in their eyes a charging rhino would have been cowering in fear-

All 4 of them in unison- Windsbane you and Zephyr are going to pay for this!

-They charge at Zephyr and me when 4 burley security guards jump in front of them. They run into the security guards while their cracking their knuckles and bounce harmlessly off.-

Guard #1- Who are these clowns Windsbane.

Zephyr- Just some angry actors from our movie who got the bad end of a business deal. Please escort them outside.

Guard #1, 2, 3, and 4- Will do. Come on.

-Zephyr and Windsbane watch and wave as the gang is dragged off by the guards toward the exit-

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Ch 3: The Mountain of Wind

Over the past month I was training with my Hypnos sword learning some basic combat techniques and I mastered quite a few psynergys too. Also I met two creatures called Djinn that seemed to amplify my power. The first was called Draft who could create a wall of air to protect me and the other was called Cloud and could cover me in a cloud so foes couldn't see me. I just finished packing my bag with a 3 day supply of food just in case and was now ready to take on Airs Rock.

I started the hike to Airs Rock in the evening to avoid people asking me about what I was doing. Normally it would take 4 hours, but I knew a shortcut where the river was shallow enough to walk through cutting the time in half. As I crossed the river I started to think about the idea of psynergy and adepts. Where did adepts come from and how was this power created? And why did so few people posses it? I was hoping that Airs Rock would be able to give me the answers, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

When I reached the base of the rock I found a bunch of monsters there. Almost instantly and an Emu charged straight at me and struck me right in the chest with its beak causing a large gash. I staggered for a minute then quickly countered with a well aimed slash at the neck of the creature. It fell but then a Kobold started to try and slash me with its sword. I parried and went into a melee of blows, however it blocked all of my attacks with its shield until my sword glowed with a blue and grey aura. It unleashed the moon's air causing the Kobold to fall asleep and I struck it down. Another group of monsters approached so I decided to get serious. I raised my hand and focused on the sky and a barrage of blue lightning bolts (Blue Bolts) struck the entire group of enemies. They were electrocuted and either died or were paralyzed. Energy was focused into my hand and released it to perform a healing ability called Calming Winds to close that nasty cut on my chest. My first real taste of combat was kind of exciting.

I started to climb the main part of the rock. It was an incredibly steep climb. When I got up about half way I lost my grip and started to fall to certain death. I closed my eyes but I never hit the ground. I opened them to find myself spinning in a whirlwind. I looked over and saw a statue spitting out small twisters and by luck I had been caught in one. I landed up on a higher ledge where I noticed a cave that led into the center of the rock.

I entered to find a horde of monsters a lot stronger than the ones I had fought earlier. Without hesitation I started to kill off the first ones. I was struggling to hold off a team of 3 Ghouls on my own, when a huge Harpy swooped in and desperately I dropped down on the ground. The harpy had just barely missed and scraped my shoulder and came back for more, so I aimed an Astral Blast of stars straight at it. That took the bird down and it landed with a thud unconscious. I returned to fighting off the 3 ghouls by casting Whirlwind. My Whirlwind had pushed all of them down into a pit and onto spires. A greenish liquid came oozing out of the ghouls, which grossed me out. I casted another Whirlwind to hold off the remaining enemies for a bit. Instead of hitting the enemies, it hit this rock in the shape of a tornado. The wind circled around it while I watched in awe as a humungous bolt of lightning hit all of the enemies causing them to die instantly. I figured that it must be the wind stone I heard about which amplifies the powers of wind.

> > > > > 

I had gone farther into the rock and say a large twister heading upwards. I took a chance and jumped into it and it blew me high up near this ledge that seemed to be suspended in mid air. I landed on a ledge and noticed a door with very odd markings on it. There was a message written in the ancient language of Garoh. I read it to myself:

"_The 4 elemental rocks contain great powers over each element that they correspond with. These rocks are also the source of alchemy's power. The Jupiter star one of the four elemental stars used to absorb the powers of alchemy was crafted from the wind crystal in the very heart of this mountain. It was predicted by ancient wind adepts that a time would come when alchemy would be unsealed or the world would erode into nothing. There would be 8 adepts (2 from each element) that would relight the beacons on the elemental lighthouses after the fire clan's strongest warriors stole them. A young adept from the mercury clan would seek to claim all the power's of alchemy under the influence of a mysterious shadow, but would fail due to the golden sun's might being transferred into 4 parts. One in the jewel of mars, one into the golden sun itself, one in the city of the sky and part will be released into the person that unlocks the power hidden within the elemental mountains themselves after defeating the spirits of the elements. The one that first break the seal on any of the mountains will be the heir to the power of alchemy sealed within, but a single adept won't be able to complete the journey alone due to the need for adepts of all 4 elements in every sacred mountain. The power will be spread through the 4 new bearers that may rise up to defeat the evil of the shadow controlling the water adept, completely restore alchemy to the world and restore the lost lands. The power to see the unseen lies ahead but the true power of the wind is hidden even deeper within these verses: _

'_If you seek what cannot be seen in your face, _

_Use the power to see the unseen and trace,_

_The markings of your hand on the magic seal,_

_Alchemy's power will then reveal,_

_Not on the ground but above into the clouds,_

_Will come the guardian of wind's power proud,_

_To test the abilities of the seeker,_

_If the adept is stronger and not weaker,_

_They will be granted the wind's true power,_

_After the moon is full at sun's risen hour._

I looked at the puzzle wondering and then stared at my palm. It had a birthmark shaped like a wing on it that I couldn't remember not having. I pulled out a pen and paper to make a copy of the writing and worry about what it meant later. Now was the time to enter the chamber of Airs Rock. I pushed the door open.

The inner chamber was a gigantic room filled with clouds and a floating platform in the center with a large stone tablet. It gave you a mystical feeling as though there was some huge source of energy inside, but a creepy feeling of a bottomless pit if you fell. There was no way to get to that platform however so I tried something very crazy. I took a running head start and jumped over 4 ft to a pillar and used a huge blast of wind to push myself off of it. I was right above the bottomless pit and about to make it when I started to fall very fast. As the wind rushed past my head, desperately I took a grappling hook out of my back pack and concentrated my psynergy on it. It moved and grabbed onto a torch stand near the tablet and luckily I was able to pull myself up.

"Phew!" I told myself. I never imagined that it would be this hard to climb Airs Rock.

I turned and faced the tablet, which read "_Ye who wield the power of the winds, lay thy hands here and I will grant you the power to see the unseen". _So I carefully put my hands to the tablet, and then it started to glow. I was shocked as I rose up into mid-air with nothing holding me up along with the tablet. Then a million small lights came out of the tablet and into my body. Finally both the tablet and I went back to the ground. I tested the power to make sure it actually worked.

"Reveal," I said and sure enough I saw a strange bubble appear around me and I could see something that I couldn't before. There was a statue that looked like an angel with a wing mark on its hand. I remembered what was in that cryptic poem and traced the wing mark on my palm on the statue's mark.

"BOOM."

A thousand lightning bolts shot around me engulfing me in a circle. My body glowed purple and I started to disappear. First my hands and feet, then my arms and legs, soon my whole body was gone. I didn't remember what happened next, I had completely blacked out.

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-Jeremy and co get chucked in a dumpster outside of the studio in an alley way-

Janet- Ewww! This will take weeks to get out my hair.

Daniel- Jeremy lets just forget about getting Windsbane and Zephyr. We've already been humiliated 3 times.

Terry- No we have to get them back for this.

Jeremy- Right we'll have our reven... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

-Garbage truck comes and picks up the contents of the dumpster to be taken to the dump-

-Meanwhile inside-

Windsbane- Now as I was before I was rudely interrupted. I humbly accept this award for my movie made with the help of some of my friends. Also please check out my current story The Secret of The Elemental Rocks.

Zephyr- Please read and review it since it stars me.


	4. Ch 4 Showdown Zephyr Vs Guardian of Wind

-In the middle of the Amazon Rainforest on a river rafting trip-

Windsbane- Hey Zephyr enjoying the Amazon rafting trip?

Zephyr- You bet! Bye the way do you think we have to worry about Jeremy and his gang anymore?

Windsbane- Knowing how stubborn I made his personality he will keep at it.

-Suddenly another boat armed with water balloons appears behind us-

Terry- Okay now we got you two right where we want you!

Janet- These balloons are filled with stinksap (stinksap is just a mix of very gross smelling things). Try and get the smell out of your clothes. Well you can't.

Daniel- Now you guys pay for our humiliation!

Jeremy- Ready guys. Fire stinksap balloons.

- Zephyr braced himself to be hit with the stink balloons while I reached into my pocket and pulled out a silver flute-

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Ch 4: Show Down:

**Zephyr Vs The Guardian of Winds**

I opened my eyes to find myself in a completely new place. All around me were clouds and the breeze blew gently with a scent of roses. It looked like heaven to me. Suddenly a winged figure came out of no where. The first thing I noticed were her transparent blue wings. She was about 5 feet and 8 inches tall and looked about 16 years old. There were golden bracelets around her wrists and ankles that looked like they couldn't be made by any mortal. Pure white hair flowed down to her knees. This woman wore a light pink skirt with a violet vest that. The figure was an enchanting beauty, an almost ethic sight. She began to speak to me:

"I am Kaze the guardian of winds. Are you a wind adept?"

"Yes," I replied. "My name is Zephyr."

"Are you here for alchemy's power?"

"Wait a second. What is alchemy anyways? And where is here?"

"You honestly don't know what alchemy is? It is the composition of the four elements that make up everything in this world. The power of adepts allows them to manipulate elements; however most of this power was sealed long ago into the elemental stars when wars for alchemy's full power erupted all over Weyard."

"I have heard stories of something like this, but I always thought it was a legend. Anyways where are we?"

"This is Cerenia the island of the sky. It exists in the clouds high above Weyard."

"Now how do I get back to the ground?"

"You must fight me first. Will you take this challenge, because if you don't you can't get back. If you win this battle you will gain some of alchemy's lost power and some of my own."

"I guess I have no choice. Bring it on!"

"Very well, I shall test your strength."

I drew my Hypnos sword and Kaze took out a bow and arrows. I faced her by starting with an astral blast. She flew up and my attack missed. She quickly took out an arrow and shot me straight in the back. I felt a mild pain for a second, but then a massive charge of electricity went surging through my body.

"Ahh!" I screamed in pain.

I was on the ground and got back up and she shot another arrow at me. This one I dodged by rolling out of the way at the last second and sent a Blue Bolt attack her way. It missed so I did a vertical jump aimed straight at Kaze and slashed her left leg. She fell and I started to hack at her wings hoping to keep her on the ground, but every time I hit they healed back.

"You are not too bad," said an excited Kaze. "But you can't harm my wings. They are fused with a healing psynergy so powerful that they can't be destroyed."

The fight resumed and now I was stuck on the defensive. Kaze kept sending arrow after arrow at me. I was tiring but refused to give up. I tried to aim another Blue Bolt at her, but nothing hit as she dodged at impossible speed. I noticed that her metal arrow heads stuck out of her quiver and that gave me an idea. I aimed a large Plasma attack slightly in front of her. When she went to fly out of the way the plasma bolt struck her arrow head causing the energy to get conducted to her. She fell to the ground as the electric current pulsed through her body.

"I'm surprised you did something so clever. You are a worthy opponent," she said panting. "I'll show you respect by unleashing my strongest attack."

The clouds around us started to turn black as she flew very high into the sky. Within a millisecond the largest bolt of lightning ever came down from the sky straight at me.

"Raikukage Bolt! Strike of the thunder beast's shadow!" she yelled.

I watched in horror as the gigantic bolt morphed into an enormous wolf. It came sizzling down from the heavens and struck me right in the chest. I started to black out and felt like I was going to die. Memories came flooding back: being teased by Jeremy's gang, the first time I read someone's mind in a card game, a cool breeze blowing when I was hot, my house in Garoh, creating a tornado when I was pricked by a rose in a town resident's garden, meeting adepts for the first time, finding out about psynergy and my determination to beat Airs Rock and prove to myself and the people of Garoh (especially Jeremy and his gang) that I was special. That was it. That thought woke me up.

"What," cried an astonished Kaze. "No one has ever stood against that attack before. You may just be the one to break the seal after thousands of years. Let us continue our battle."

She spoke strongly, but I could see signs of her weakening. I rushed her with a combination of sword strikes while she desperately tried to block them with her bow. I got a wide slice at her chest. It was a clean cut, but no blood came out instead it just cut her flesh. I guess I should have expected that since she isn't human. Thinking fast I sent a wave of Wind Slashes at her blowing her back quite a ways and making more cuts on her body. I was deciding what to do next, when I heard a faint voice:

"Hey Zephyr."

"What, who said that?"

"It's me Cloud."

"Wait you guys can talk!"

"Yes but right now that isn't important right now," I heard Cloud say.

Draft added, "Listen you can use our powers on her if you unleash us and then you can combine our powers to summon a stronger entity called Atalanta."

"Okay thanks."

I decided to test this ability and just in time. I unleashed Draft and his wall of wind blocked a shower of Kaze's arrows. I quickly casted an impact spell on myself to increase my strength while the barrier was still up. Next Kaze came hurtling toward me trying to shoot Sonic Slashes from a close range. This was the perfect time to unleash Cloud to mess up her aim. As soon as Cloud was out a thick fog appeared and Kaze couldn't see (I wouldn't have been able to either if I hadn't learned reveal). I charged up and shot a massive Astral Blast straight at her head. The sonic stars cut up her face pretty badly and knocked her to the ground. While she was down I used Cloud and Draft just as they had told me and summoned Atalanta. The heavenly huntress shot a hail of arrows at Kaze who just got up and said:

"So sister you have allowed yourself to be called on by mortals. He would have won this battle even if you hadn't come. You will just end it faster. I shall grant this adept the power. He is the one to unseal the might of wind."

Atalanta seemed to be nodding as she disappeared and the hail of arrows shot right through Kaze. She fell to the ground. The battle was over and I had won!

* * *

A/N Kaze is Japanese for wind so I decided to use that name for my invented wind spirit. I hope my description of her appearance was interesting. I was going for something like one of the wind summon spirits without the rainbow of colours in Tales of Syphonia if you've played that game.

* * *

- Meanwhile back at the Amazon river I start playing my flute-

Zephyr- Windsbane have you lost it? How the hell is a flute supposed to help us?

Jeremy- Fire round one.

-The 4 of them chucked the stinksap balloons straight at us. I grabbed Zephyr and pulled him to the floor of the boat as the balloons missed by millimeters-

Daniel- Fire again.

-As they grabbed the second round 30 enormous crocodiles started swimming around there boat-

Janet- AHHH! CROCODILES!

Terry- Abandon ship!

-They jump out, change into wolf form, swim to the banks of the river in a blur and ran off like the pits of hell were opening up to swallow them-

Zephyr- Where did the crocs come from?

Windsbane smiling very largely- Did I ever tell you that I tame and charm crocodiles on my spare time?


	5. Ch 5 The Jupiter Seal Unlocked

-In the basement of Windsbane's home-

Windsbane- Okay I've been inactive for two weeks due to school but now I'm back and have a fresh chapter hot off my keyboard.

Zephyr- Finally I was thinking I'd never get anymore action.

Four familiar voices from outside- Open this door now Windsbane we have the place surrounded with reinforcements.

-I look out my window to see Jeremy, Terry, Daniel and Janet plus a bunch of guys from the Mafia

Zephyr- Okay, HOW THE HELL DO YOU PLAN TO GET OUT OF THIS ONE WINDSBANE?

Windsbane- Just watch.

**

* * *

**

Ch 5: The Jupiter Seal Unlocked

I was exhausted after that fight and could barely stand. My chest was bleeding like crazy.

"Ughh" I grunted as I fell to the floor.

Kaze looked startled to see me about to collapse. She then saw one of her arrows right through my chest. It seemed that one managed to get through the barrier of winds that neither of us noticed. At the rate the blood was gushing out of my chest I was going to die and I was too drained to heal myself.

"No!" she cried. "This boy is too strong to die, he must live. I have to get him to the alchemy seal before it's too late."

She lifted me up and flew off carrying me on her back. I was barely awake and saw a large shrine with Jupiter symbols and statues of several deities (the jupiter djinns, a large bird, a Viking with a gigantic hammer, Atalanta and one of Kaze herself. I figured these must be the spirits of wind.

"There isn't much time. Hurry and place you hand on the symbol of this altar."

I did as she said and then a panel on the floor with the same symbol as my hand turned purple. As it glowed a surge of purple energy emitted from the tiles. It converged into a ball as bright as the sun. I was rising into mid air again straight into the purple sun. When my body made contact with the sphere of purple light it entered my body. All of my wounds healed and my body felt amazing with the new power coursing inside of it. The sensation was astonishing. I was feeling a thousand times stronger and my body was pulsing with energy.

"Now the seal of winds has been broken. I will guide and protect you for as long as you live. If you ever need me just blow this whistle."

"Okay I'll remember that if I think I need your help. Now I have completed this challenge you told me about. So how do I get back down to Weyard?"

"Follow me and I will take you to the place."

Kaze led me into the most spectacular city I had ever seen. It was huge and had buildings as tall as trees, an open bazaar, a large dock with floating ships and several other sights I had never seen before. Everyone here appeared to wear these same purple robes. I read a sign, which said "Welcome to Cerenia the city of the Anemos". I looked around and saw several people starting to stare at Kaze and me.

"Look" I heard someone say. "Isn't that Kaze the Guardian of Winds?"

"Yes but what is she doing here, she never leaves the shrine of wind."

We were at what seemed to be the center of the city. She pointed to a shop and told me to go there a disappeared. Not knowing what else to do I went in and saw a middle aged women.

"Hello there young man I Sebra, where are you from? I haven't seen you around here before."

"Hi my name is Zephyr. I came from the surface of Weyard. I was told that you might have something to help me get back to there."

"Hmm… I have something, but I don't know if you can use it."

"What? Why?"

"It is a power called Hover a type of psynergy that normal people can't use. Only jupiter adepts can and we never leave this place. The last people that ever left were a brother and sister. The young girl was only 1 and the boy was only a few months old they had fallen off the island. Their parents had died of an illness about a week before they fell. The elders and the council were unable to get the siblings back but were able to keep them from dying. No one knows where they ended up however."

"While I am a jupiter adept so I should be able to use Hover."

"That's interesting I wasn't aware that jupiter adepts still existed on Weyard's surface. Well if you are a jupiter adept I can give you the hover jade."

With that she handed me this jade. As soon I touched it and it gave off a small force of power.

"Now to get back down you have to use hover along with some kind of ship. I know what I'll give you this wind board. It's just like a surfboard only it can fly."

"Thanks a lot. Well bye."

I took the board and went just outside the city. As I went there some soldiers stopped me and the Captain of the group advanced.

"Where do you think you are going?" The Captain asked sarcastically.

"I'm heading back to the surface." I responded casually.

"No you're not," the Captain told me. "We heard you appeared in town out of nowhere. You must be brought to our leader Chief Alika."

I was afraid of what might happen next so I jumped on the board and sure enough it floated. I pushed off at full speed and was soon in the open sky as the soldiers looked both surprised and angry.

I was free and heading straight down. I felt right at home in the sky with the winds speeding past me and blowing at my face. I laughed since it made sense as I am a wind adept. The cloudy white sky turned clear blue as I broke down lower. From here I could see Airs Rock and Yampi Desert meaning I was close to home. I headed south towards Garoh and hoping no one would realize I'd been gone for about a day.

I suddenly remembered that last night was the first of the full moon just as the riddle said and I had released the seal at dawn. Then another thought struck me. Everyone in town would be looking for me, because the lunar festival is such a big deal that every resident of Garoh is almost always there. I hurried back to town as fast as I could, not able to know what to expect when I got there.

> > > > >

As I headed back to town storm clouds were brewing. The sky was starting to turn pitch black as thunder roared overhead. I was just on the outskirts of town ready to land when an enormous steam of lightning appeared in front of me. It missed me by a millimeter but struck the board. I plummeted towards the ground not knowing if I'd live or not.

My body was hurtling through the air almost to the ground. SPLASH! I landed in a pond just on the mountainside. I swam to the edge and surfaced. My body was soaked from head to toe but I was alive. The town was deserted and it looked like everyone was taking shelter in the caves. The winds were getting stronger and starting to swirl around. A massive tornado was about to hit the entire town of Garoh.

I was rushing towards my secret place since there was a cave there that I could hide in until the storm died down when I heard a shout:

"HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP!"

I looked in the direction of the cries and spotted Jeremy on the ground with a broken ankle and a tornado right behind him. I did resent Jeremy for annoying me all those years, but I wouldn't leave him to be swallowed by a tornado.

"Hang on Jeremy."

"Hurry the tornado is getting closer!" he yelled as I hurried to help.

Jeremy's body was suddenly pulled up into the air by the gale force winds. At unimaginable speed I ran and grabbed his arm just before he was sucked into the windy vortex. The tornado was pulling harder and I could barely hold onto Jeremy whose grip was slipping.

As we were being pulled into a cyclone that would almost definitely kill us I started to become scared. We couldn't escape and both of us would die here. Then a recent memory in my head came back:

Kaze told me, "I will guard and protect you for as long as you live. If you ever need me just blow this whistle."

I reached for the whistle that Kaze gave me and blew it. A brilliant glow of purple shown around the area and Kaze appeared.

"What is it that you need young master?"

"I need to stop this tornado somehow before it kills both me and Jeremy and destroys the entire town."

I could hear Jeremy's thoughts and he was both amazed and petrified at the sight of Kaze appearing out of nowhere.

"But you don't need me to do that you have the ability already. You inherited the powers of wind. You can control this tornado enough to change its course. Just concentrate on the wind around you."

I followed what she told me. I closed my eyes and saw the vortex in my mind and visualized it getting smaller and moving away from the town. It did exactly what I saw it doing. It grew smaller and smaller and moved far away so it wouldn't hit the town. I quickly pulled Jeremy into the closest cave I could find to get out of the rain.

"Are you okay?" I asked Jeremy somewhat concerned.

"Yea, I'm okay." He responded to me.

"Glad to hear it Jeremy." I said calmly.

"Wait I know your voice" He said astounded and looked up to see my face. "Zephyr it's you! Why did you save me?"

He seemed oblivious to the fact that I had just tired myself out by moving a gigantic tornado.

"When someone is in trouble you are supposed to help them out no matter what. That means even if they made your life miserable."

"Jeez you have to bring that up now!" Jeremy told me in an annoyed tone. "Don't think this will change anything between us we are still enemies. You are just a human and we are werewolves."

"Okay you could just say thank you and cut out the tough guy act." I spoke angrily. "But I suppose you are right I am a human, but that doesn't make me any less special than you."

"I beg to differ." Jeremy retorted.

Then a new voice came from within the cave:

"Who goes there?"

We both were shocked to see Maha!

* * *

-A loud explosion is heard from the yard and when we look out we see loads of Mafia guys out cold.- 

Zephyr- What did you do this time?

Windsbane- Oh I was experimenting with a new explosive formula. I made a couple of land mines on my free time with it. The explosions aren't strong enough to kill, but can knock a guy out for about a day.

Zephyr- HOW ON EARTH DO YOU GET THIS STUFF? FIRST THE CROCODILES AND NOW LANDMINES! WHATS NEXT MISSIALS AND ROCKETSHIPS?

Windsbane- Okay rocketships it is. Just let me get it out of my closet...

-Zephyr bangs his head against the wall-


	6. Ch 6 The Explanation

Zephyr- So Windsbane what insane idea do you have today?

Windsbane- I was thinking of a trip to Hawaii since it's getting colder here.

Zephyr- That's all! Finally no more rocketships, crocodiles or insane body guards just a relaxing day at the beach. I think my prayers have been answered finally.

-Later at a beach on Hawaii with both of us soaking up the sun.-

Zephyr- Ahh! This is so relaxing!

-Suddenly Jeremy and co pull up in a sports car and start shooting a hail of rubber bullets at us!-

Zephyr- AHH! I KNEW THIS WAS TOO GOOD TO LAST!

I stick out my hand towards the bullets and they stop in mid air.

Janet- What the hell? You copied that from the Matrix Windsbane! That's just cheep!

Windsbane- What are you going to do about it? Sick their lawyers on me?

-Suddenly a convertible full of what appear to be 5 Mr. Smith clones with brief cases saying "Matrix- Lawyer Division"-

Windsbane- Umm I think I'll be going now... bye!

-I run off at supersonic speeds-

**

* * *

**

**Ch 6: The Explanation**

"Maha, what are you doing here?" coursed Jeremy and me.

Maha calmly told us, "I was out ready for the lunar festival when this huge storm started and I took cover in the closest cave. And Zephyr, where have you been! You worried nearly everyone in town."

"Sorry I had you worried. It's not like I wanted to make everyone anxious or anything." I spoke apologetic.

"Okay. That's alright Zephyr."

"Wait a second!" Jeremy budded in. "We still don't know where you have been before now when you helped me get away from the tornado I walked right up too... oops... I mean… umm…. forget I said that last part."

JEREMY STILL OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT I JUST SAVED HIM AND MOVED A HUMUNGOUS TORNADO

"Zephyr," replied Maha quietly, "I also want to know where you have been if that's okay."

I sighed and started to talk, "Fine I'll tell you. It started a few weeks ago when those adepts came to town…"

"You mean those people that I found with the powers to control elements right?" interrupted Jeremy again in a snobbish voice like he was some kind of hero.

"Yes, if you mean by 'found' revealing your wolf form to strangers by looking at the full moon when you aren't supposed to and then running off to hide in a rock because you were scared. And even after that it was dumb luck that you got out of that mess without a punishment," I said making Jeremy's face deflate like balloon. "Now please let me tell the story….."

So I told them everything that happened except the bit about the stuff happening on the Anemos island in the sky and the stories of alchemy.

…… and that's where I've been this whole time. At Air's Rock."

"So you have the same kind of powers as those adepts. And you went without telling anyone to go to a place where you could have gotten killed just for some kind of answers. Jeez Zephyr I knew you were weird but now I know your crazy too," said Jeremy while snickering.

"Yea sure and it was also crazy to risk my life near a tornado to save your sorry but, I'm not saying anything about it. Jeremy keep in mind for the future that trying to chase after tornadoes is not a very safe hobby." I shot back at him.

His grin faded and was replaced by a look of anger. Maha then separated us so we didn't hurt each other.

"Okay boys enough hostility." He said to us.

"Sorry Maha," we both replied.

"Anyways Zephyr well done," Maha congratulated I would have never guessed that when I found you,that you would be an adept let alone the next person to complete the challenge of Air's rock."

While Maha congratulated me on my success I saw Jeremy looking both livid about my praise and somewhat sorry for his past actions and ideas towards me.

After a few more hours the sun came out and we left the cave. The entire town would know that I was an adept by the day's end but I didn't care. They wouldn't know the secrets of alchemy that I had uncovered and Jeremy was still too uptight about me saving his life to think about what Kaze had said to me when she appeared out of thin air.

Things were looking good for me, as I finally knew what I was and how to control my abilities. There was one thing that was still bugging me. That cryptic passage on the tablet in Air's rock. I just couldn't get it out off my mind. The first part about wind alchemy being unsealed at that shrine came true but what about the other parts. There were going to be other adepts of different elements that could do the same thing. And what about the evil water adept mentioned in the text. What could they mean? It was all too much to think about as I went to catch up on some much needed sleep.

> > > > >

I woke up very early the next morning with an excess amount of energy. It felt really unusual; like I absolutely needed to get out and explore the world. I got dressed as fast as I possibly could in my tunic and wolfed down a whole loaf of bread (excuse the pun). I ran outside along with the floating board from the previous day.

I went to the highest cliff I could find and jumped off onto the board. I sent my psynergy into it and flew off towards the rising sun into the unknown.

* * *

-Meanwhile with the lawyers still hot on my trail near a volcano- 

Windsbane - Argg I just had to say it! Now how do I escape from this one?

-The lawyers appear on the mountain side-

Smith 1-There he is get him.

Smith 2- Make him pay for his mocking of our appearance.

Smith 3- Mr. Anderson give yourself up.

Smith 4- 3 don't make such cheesy comments, no wonder you lost the position in the movies.

Smith 5- Hey where did Neo go

1-4 in union- WHAT!

-I reappear with a huge dump truck full of baking soda-

Windsbane- Hey guys I want to show you what a real sized model volcano eruption looks like.

1-5 all together- OH NO!

-I dump the baking soda and the volcano blows them away sky high while I make my get away with Zephyr on a motor boat-

Zephyr- Okay that was weirder than all of your past stunts put together. Can you ever be normal?

Windsbane- Of course not and besides it's not like I planned for 5 Smith clones to appear. It's not like I have control over what happens in this story.

Zephyr- YES YOU DO! YOU ARE THE AUTHOR FOR GOD'S SAKE! YOU COULD MAKE JEREMY DRESS UP IN A TUTU AND SING I'M A LITTLE TEA CUP IF YOU WANTED TO!

Windsbane- Hmmm great idea I think I'll keep that in mind for later.

Zephyr- Sigh, Oh well at least I get to see him embarrassed again.

A/N No I don't own the Matrix I just felt like doing this for fun. Please read and review if anyone else is reading this. (Seriously I want to know if I've got at least more than one reader)


	7. Ch 7 The Card Game

Windsbane- Finally after a while there are no more stupid projects or homework piling up for school so I can finally update again. I've also made some slight word edits and grammar corrections to my earlier chapters and I added character descriptions in the first chapter for the people that have been in my story so far. Also I will start to use third person POV in this chapter because I will be introducing another character soon and it will be too hard to cover everything that they think from single person POV or a real pain in the but to constantly switch POVs while reading or writing. If anyone has any suggestions about how I should do my story later, ideas to possibly improve my first couple of chapters or about how to design my future characters please tell me in reviews or email me at And can anyone actually reading this story give me a few reviews because I would really like to know if it is worth while continuing or if I should drop it and try another story something other than GS.

* * *

**Ch 7: The Card Game **

It had been 2 years since Zephyr had climbed Airs Rock and he was now 15. His body changed a little since he was 13 and his powers had become increasingly stronger. His hair had grown longer and became more blonde than brown. The wind adept liked to wear his hair in a short ponytail, kind of copying how Felix did. He wore the same kind of travel clothing only in a larger size. Zephyr was constantly traveling around Osenia as most places were within a few days flight from Garoh and even ventured as far as Indra a few times. Things weren't too much different in Garoh, except that Jeremy and his friends didn't go around teasing the guy as often. This was for 2 main reasons:

1. They were somewhat grateful that Zephyr saved Jeremy

2. The gang, now aware that he was an adept, were afraid of the thought of being blown into the air or fried by lightning.

They were actually nice to him occasionally and had matured a little bit more.

Maha had told Zephyr the exact details of how he was discovered in a crater in that forest when he fell from the sky. Zephyr put two and two together and guessed that he must have been one of the two children that fell from Cerenia all those years ago.

Zephyr was staying in the Alhafra Inn that night glad to be in a soft bed as he had been camping for a week now. The town had been fully restored after that tidal wave hit 2 years ago. The young explorer had recently stopped in Yallam and had met the legendary blacksmith Sunshine there. That town had purchased a lot of the materials that he found during his travels. The business in Yallam was starting to pick up again for the first time in years. Sunshine had forged a better sword for Zephyr called the Luna Rapier. That sword was a lot stronger than the Hypnos sword had been. It was light weight and easy to use. The blade was silver coloured with two black stripes going down each side The handle had a left crescent moon engraved into it. It could unleash a special move called Silver Eclipse where the blade would be engulfed in a black energy and then user of the sword would disappear and strike the opponent extremely fast.

He collapsed in the bed for the night. Zephyr was tired out from using psynergy to fly the whole day and instantly fell asleep. He began to dream.

> > > > > >

He was in the ruins of a town at the base of a large mountain. There was a large glowing sun above its peak. There were 3 other people with him; 2 girls and 1 boy. All of them looked about 15 judging by our heights. The other people were shadowed so you couldn't clearly see what they looked like.

All four of them had weapons out and were looking upon a young man with blue hair and eyes and he appeared to be about 19. The man looked very badly beaten. Cuts all over his face, scorch marks from fire, a huge gash from his cheek to his temple, his left leg was fractured and he was surrounded by an ocean of crimson blood.

At last he spoke to us in a raspy voice, "Please… hur.. ry and kill me. There is something inside me forcing me to cause chaos. It's like another mind controlling my body. Please I'm sorry for all I've done even though it wasn't my fault. I can't hold it for long. Please ……….. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

He was screaming in massive pain as some other worldly force caused his body to rise. A shadow of a man started to form behind him.

"So you defeated my host, it is of little consequence. I shall leave this body, my soul will live as long as alchemy lives inside it. I am now strong enough to create a new body for myself. Hahaha!" The spirit or whatever it was laughed manically.

He waved his hand and shouted "Freeze Prism!" Everyone there tried frantically to dodge the chunks of ice falling from the sky.

> > > > > >

Zephyr woke up to find himself panting and sweating. 'That dream. It felt so real' he thought. 'Oh well might as well find something to do.'

He headed down to the kitchen and ate some breakfast. He left the room and walked down the hallway. Suddenly a man in sailor's clothing popped out of one of the inn rooms. He wore a blue bandana and a white shirt. He called to Zephyr.

"Hey kid, were playing cards right now and we could use another person. You want in?"

Now normally gambling isn't something that young people should take part in, but Zephyr was a bit of a sucker for games like that. However there was one good thing about it. He almost always won. He was a pro and never even tried to cheat. The only exception was one time when he was eight and accidentally read a person's mind only to find that they were cheating. Now he obviously wouldn't refuse a chance like this.

"Sure. I'd love to play for a while." Zephyr said in an innocent way.

The man eyed Zephyr suspiciously and said, "Okay kid, but this isn't just for fun. We're playing in the big leagues for real money. You still okay with that?"

"Yea I'm fine with that. Don't worry about money, I've got plenty of room to store my winnings." Zephyr smirked as he responded to the sailor.

"Hahaha! Cute kid, I like your attitude. I doubt you'll win anything. Oh well, it's your choice." He laughed joyfully.

The two went inside the room where 3 other people were there. One was another sailor in a red bandana, some merchant, and a fat man in expensive looking grey clothing.

The sailor in the red bandana asked, "Oy Mac is this kid what you got for a fifth? He better be able to play and pay if he's going in the big leagues."

Zephyr tells him calmly, "Don't worry sir I can play and pay. And I came to win so I don't plan on loosing any of my money."

All four men laughed at this statement.

Mac responded, "I think this kid can play alright Jack don't you?"

Jack said, "I think you're right about this one Mac. What do you think Mayor?" Jack motions to the fat man in grey.

The Mayor chuckled while he spoke. "I think that this boy is old enough to play if he chooses. So what's your name son?"

"Zephyr," I replied.

The Merchant added in, "Alright so now that that's settled lets play."

Mac agreed with the merchant, "Okay Maurice you cut and deal the cards then."

Maurice dealt everyone a hand while everyone grabbed some chips and they started to play.

> > > > > >

About half an hour later the game was starting to become one sided. Both Mac and Jack along with Maurice were losing while the Mayor was winning by a huge amount. Zephyr was behind the Mayor, but doing fairly well.

'How on earth is that fat ass Mayor winning? Not even I get that good luck and I'm a natural at cards,' thought Zephyr. The mayor then pulled out a Royal Flush on everyone. 'That does it,' said an angry Zephyr to himself, 'I'm reading his mind!'

Inside the Mayor's head, 'Hehe! No one will guess how I tricked them by concealing all the good cards in my sleeves and using this card extender to make it look like I just picked them up. I have a straight flush right now and I'll win all the money from this little game.'

A/N card extender is my name for the little things like extendable arms that people used to stick in their sleeves and grab cards from whenever they supposedly picked them up from the deck.

Zephyr was quite annoyed. 'Card extenders! That has to be the oldest cheat in the book. Hmm… I could expose him right now if I wanted to, but I'll see if I can humiliate him first.' He looked down at his hand and saw that he had a 10, a jack, a queen and a king all diamonds suit. 'Sweet if I get the ace of diamonds I'll have a royal flush.' He drew from the deck and it was the ace of diamonds.

Zephyr smiled while folding his cards and he pulled something out of his pocket without anyone noticing and said, "Guys I want to end this now so how about this. Next hand is all or nothing. I'm going to put in every chip I have. You in or out?"

The Mayor looks happily at Zephyr and said, "Son, that's a brave move, but I doubt that a kid like you would do that unless you had a good hand so I'm staying out."

Zephyr replied "Mayor I can tell that you are nervous about this so I'll show you the cards that I'm carrying with me." He placed his right hand over the cards that he folded on the table and slipped them into his sleeve. He pulled his right toward his left keeping the view of his palm covered. The wind adept then took the cards he pulled from his pocket in his left hand, slipped them into his right as he fanned them out and no one noticed his trick. What he fanned out was a set of five 10s (they were playing with 2 decks).

The mayor lit up like a Christmas tree and told everyone excitedly, "Okay I'm in kid you three gentlemen?"

Zephyr passed a piece of paper while the mayor looked at his fake hand to Maurice beside him. It said _"The mayor is cheating. I saw card extenders in his sleeves. Go for this round because I can beat him and humiliate him at the same time for cheating. Please pass this on."_

The other three players nodded and said together, "Okay I'm in."

Everyone put every chip they had.

Jack went first placing five 8s down and then Mac put down five 9s. Maurice placed down his cards (three 9s and two 4s) and said, "Full house."

The Mayor with a greedy glint put down a 5, 4, 3, 2 and ace of spades and joyfully yelled, "STRAIGHT FLUSH! I WIN!"

Zephyr had an evil glint in his eye when he said, "Actually mister Mayor you just lost, Royal Flush." He placed down his set of diamonds.

The Mayor's expression changed from extreme joy to extreme anger in a second. "WHAT! HOW ON WEYARD DID YOU GET A ROYAL FLUSH! YOU HAD ALL 10S! YOU MUST HAVE CHEATED YOU FILTHY LIAR! I'LL HAVE YOU LOCKED UP IN JAIL FOR THIS!"

The mayor tried to punch Zephyr, who just grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm down. The game winner responded, "Actually mister Mayor I never cheated because I said that I'd show you the cards I was 'carrying' not the cards that I had in my hand. I had that set of 10s from another deck in my pocket just for a situation like this. And as for cheating well you are hardly one to talk."

Maurice and the sailors were snickering in their seats. While the Mayor went a little pale. "What do you mean? Surely I the honorable Mayor of Alhafra…" Zephyr pulled out the card extenders from the Mayors sleeves before he could finish. The Mayor just stood there knowing he was busted.

Maurice spoke first "Mayor I suggest that you give this boy his winnings otherwise we'll spread the news that you cheat in card games to everyone in this town. I do not think that you want to have your reputation tarnished now do you."

The Mayor's face was grim, he was defeated. "Okay already." He grabbed a bag of money and tossed it on the table. "Here is your winnings brat 40 000 gold. Goodbye." He stormed out of the room.

Jack yelled as he left, "We'll be watching and if we find you cheating again we'll tell everybody."

The other players had smug looks on their faces while Jack said, "Well kid you won like you said you would and I'm impressed. You caught him cheating while none of us could. So here's what you won." He handed me the bag.

"But some of this money is yours. You guys helped me stop him by playing that last round. Besides he cheated you out of it anyways." Zephyr protested.

"No kid, you won fair and square. Take the money you earned it," encouraged Mac.

Zephyr decided to compromise the situation. "Tell you guys what. I'll take 21 000 of the gold and each of you can have 7 000 gold."

They sighed and Maurice responded, "That sounds fine, but we wish that there was someway to repay you besides just the gold. What exactly do you do anyways kid?"

Zephyr told them, "I travel around quite a bit and enjoy seeing new places."

Maurice's face lit up. "I have an idea then, Zephyr. There is a ship traveling to a couple of places around the sea for trade and we'll all be going on it. If you want then we can take you with us so you can explore all of the places we sail to. Of course you have to get your parents permission first, but what do you say?"

Zephyr was inwardly jumping for joy. 'This is such a great chance to travel and I'm not going to pass it up,' he thought. "That sounds great Maurice. I'd really like to travel to some new places. I don't have any parents to ask though, I'm an orphan and my parents died when I was still a baby," said the now excited jupiter adept.

Mac said a little sadly, "Oh sorry, about your folks kid we didn't know."

"That's alright, I don't really think much about it."

"Okay kid, just remember that the ship leaves in 2 days, so be sure to get whatever you need by then." Mac advised.

"Alright I'll see you three on the boat in 2 more days then." Zephyr waved goodbye and went to do a little more in town.

After 2 days Zephyr went to the dock and saw Jack and Mac getting ready to cast off.

"Hello guys," he greeted.

They looked and saw the kid from their poker game. "Nice ta see ya again kid, we're almost ready to cast off," said Mac to Zephyr.

"Don't worry I'm getting on."

"Mac you shouldn't worry about this shrimp so much, he can take care of himself if he's lived by himself all his life." Jack told Mac. "Anyways lets get going to sea."

A red bearded man with a blue sailor's jacket and several scars around his face came up to the three people.

He spoke in a low raspy voice, "So are you that kid getting a free ride on my ship?"

"Yes I am," Zephyr answered.

The new man eyed the adept closely and said, "Hmm… I like the look of this one. He's got determination and spirit, the markings a true adventurer. I'm Captain Marcus."

"Thanks Captain for letting me ride on this ship. I just hope to enjoy the trip."

"No problem kid. These 2 sailors," he pointed to Mac and Jack, "and our regular merchant told me about that little card game. Bye the way if you need anything ask me or one of the crew mates."

Captain Marcus then bellowed, "OKAY EVERYONE LETS CAST OFF FROM THIS PORT AND GET THIS VOYAGE UNDERWAY!"

About 30 other voices coursed, "AYE, AYE CAPTIAN!"

The anchor was raised, the sails opened catching the wind and we started the voyage to our first destination, the island of Izumo.

* * *

Zephyr- Okay Windsbane so now that Jeremy, Daniel, Terry and Janet won't be a bother as much to me anymore are you going to stop torturing them? 

Windsbane- I think so. There is no point in torturing someone who doesn't deserve it.

The gang appears and walks towards us.

Terry- Thank you for finally stopping that I was getting really freaked out after seeing Jeremy in a dress at a beauty pageant.

Jeremy- Terry did you have to bring up that now. I still get shivers about that memory.

Janet- Oh come on the show wasn't all bad. I placed first after all.

Daniel- That is exactly why you didn't mind being at the pageant Janet. Oh well at least it is over for now.

Jeremy- So anyways Windsbane, are you going to continue with the bizarre extra scenes in this story?

Windsbane- Definitely. I love adding random bits of humour into my stories.

Zephyr- So that means that you are going to enjoy torturing more people other than these guys or doing some setup that is entirely random and insane.

Windsbane- Basically yes.

Terry- So who's your next victim? And can we watch?

Daniel- Yea it'll be nice to see someone other than us being humiliated for once.

Windsbane grins manically- Sure you guys can come. I'm planning on doing the Mayor of Alhafra next. He could stand to loose a few pounds.

A/N Please review this story if you read it because I really want some more people's opinions and I want to know if I have anymore readers.


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